Visual warning devices in the form of flashing lamps or rotating beacons, are often mounted in and along exterior of vehicles, typically trucks, so as to provide warning signals in a single color or multiple colors to other motorists on the road. These visual warning devices modify vehicles for use in particular applications, such as construction, emergency services, roadway maintenance, and the like, and are in addition to those typical manufacturer installed (or pre-existing) visual indicator lamps, such as tail lights indicating brake activation, turn signals, and reverse signals. Visual warning devices may be of same or different types, and are typically installed along the exterior body of the vehicle so that motorists are provided with adequate warning along different viewing angles. For example, common locations for mounting visual warning lights are along back, right and left sides of a vehicle, with one or more rotating beacons along the top of the vehicle.
It has also been found that operation of the visual warning devices can interfere with perception by other motorists of typical visual indicator lamps of vehicle operation, such as tail lights when indicating braking or turn signals, causing potential safety risk. For example, an accident can happen when a driver of a car behind a vehicle with such multiple flashing visual warning devices along the rear thereof fails to realize until too late such illumination of tail lights indicating braking due to the driver's mental focus on the flashing visual warning devices. Further, drivers of nearby cars can fail to realize until too late the activation of the turn signals of such vehicle when shifting traffic lanes due to confusion with flashing visual warning devices. Accordingly, it would be desirable to operate such visual warning devices in a manner that enhances perception by others of vehicle events associated with operation of typical visual indicator lamps when activated as well as any other vehicle events to enhance safety in vehicle operation.
Additionally, a trained installer or technician is currently needed to change the operation of visual warning devices mounted on a vehicle. Thus, it would further be desirable to provide a user interface that allows the user of the vehicle to easily select one of different patterns of operation, synchronization, or even output color in the case visual warning devices that having alternative colors or color patterns. Further, it would be desirable if installed visual warning devices enabled high and lower power operation as would be useful for day and night time operation.